By the Sacramento Sirens, Compiled by Joyce "Taz" Brown The "D" View - Defensive Game Recap (March 8, 2003) Volume 1, Issue 2 March 12, 2003 "Football as Seen Through the Eyes of the Defense." INTRODUCTION Welcome to issue #2 of “The ‘D’ View.” Amazingly, someone actually read issue #1 as our format and team input concept are already being duplicated. Well, almost the entire Defense made it through multiple practices, a scrimmage and this week’s game with relatively few injuries. Unfortunately, however, during this week’s preparation, we lost a promising rookie, #1, Natasha Apiag, to a serious arm injury, and Saturday’s game claimed Kym Crowder, #74 with a wrist injury. The new Spring versus Fall schedule and 1:00 p.m. versus 7:00 p.m. game times seem to have brought about more of a display of concern between teammates. Many players were overheard insisting that their teammates drink plenty of fluids--even if it’s just a sip--because they didn’t want others to get dehydrated. I guess that’s what you call “looking out for each other”. As it turned out, this week’s game was played on International Women’s Day, and we had a nice turnout--although some notable invited women guest were no-shows. Nevertheless, the Defense would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank our loyal fans and identify some of our supportive veterans and other contributors. Some of the veterans and or contributors present Saturday were: Nilda “Cuch” Quidley, Lisa Springs, Jennifer Huston, Denise Rodriquez, Terri Sims, and Maria Guardado. Also in attendance were Gayle Totton, Colleen Maitoza, Pamm Hubbard, Valerie Huber, Teresa Rios, Mandie Salmonson and Stefani Norris. Without all of you, we might not be the team we are today, and our daughter’s, nieces, aunts, sisters, mom’s etc. might not have the possibility of playing this level of football in the near future. So, we, the Sacramento Sirens, thank you for all that you have done to support us. GAME VIEWS Sacramento vs. Oakland - "Over at the Half" 3-8-03, Saturday afternoon, the first regular season game started off with a pre-game “Chip of the Week,” covert discussion from a couple of the coaches. Almost immediately we knew that Coaches Butler and Brown were not going to talk about golf but about execution. We had to show the coaches that we could knock that chip off their shoulders on the field. Oakland began the physical part of the competition by running a series of scripted plays and a no-huddle offense right at our defense. Some football strategists argue that the no-huddle offense wears a defense down physically, but in this instance, it seemed to backfire. The under-staffed Oakland offense needed the breather between plays as much or more than we did. They couldn’t hide their early exhaustion, and we didn’t panic; we knew all we had to do was depend on each other and play together, and that’s where it all began and ended. Writing an article like this is extremely difficult without sounding boastful, but during the first half of play, it seemed that we were prepared for or found a way to deal with everything that Oakland had in store for us—including their aerial assault. Unfortunately, our DB’s have been criticized in the past, and this game was perhaps the first time that our secondary had been tested to this extent. Our “Air Traffic Control” passed the test very well. Corners Nikki Kopacz, #42 and Tameka Hutcherson, #4 should have received overtime pay for their efforts. On every other down it seemed that balls were flying into their zones, and receivers were constantly trying to find soft spots for receptions. Kellie Kirkpatrick, #45 and Denise Grandison, #33 were equally as busy and equally as effective. Kellie hauled in an interception and knocked down several passes while Denise batted down balls left and right. The linebackers, AKA “The Sack Pack” were not about to be left out of the fun. Tamara Bells, #54 caught 2 interceptions; maybe she can play professional baseball as a catcher after her football career. Bells also made some very nice tackles. Tina Rogers (not Rodgers), #6 recovered 2 fumbles, made a couple of tackles and chased Oakland’s quarterback almost to the parking lot. Christy Medinger, #5 got her first sack; she didn’t know whether to scream or stay calm. Joyce Brown, #39 made couple of tackles and sacked the quarterback twice. Well, there should no longer be any mystery about why we call the front line “The Hit Squad.” Pam Heemstra, #77, a recent “Dark Side” convert, made some nice tackles and hit one of Oakland’s players so hard near our sideline we called it the “Hit heard around the world”. Gina McCann, #71, sacked the quarterback and opened up gaps for the “Pack” to blitz through. Stephanie Cors, #73 made a real nice tackle. Kym Crowder, #74 also did a very nice job keeping the front line jumping before she got injured. Third year veteran, Kimberly Bradshaw, #91 opened and plugged gaps at the right times as usual, and Jeny “Itty-Bitty” Gardner had a fumble recovery. Jeny was quoted as saying, “someone kicked the ball right to me and I just fell on it”. While covering the ball, Jeny probably had a flashback about doing “up downs”. Overall, the “Hit Squad” shut down the run; the “Sack Pack” played seek and destroy with Oakland’s QB, and the “Air Traffic Control,” controlled the air. In short, this was a total team effort. We played together as a team more in this game than ever before. The running clinic that offensive players, “Zig and Zag” Michelle Kahler, #23 and Hilary McLaughlin, #21 performed—coupled with the defensive effort in the first half, led to a (46 – 0) halftime shut out and a (64 – 14) final. The offense only needed to put up 15 points for a win; that group could do that in their sleep. As A.J. Miyata and Stefani Cors put it, “there wasn’t any arguing amongst us.” According to Nicole Kopacz, “The defense really showed that we are a family”. We actually got a smile out of coach Butler for once, and we knocked that chip off his shoulder too. We knew the game was “over at the half,” but we still didn’t give up or let down. We realize that this was just one game of many, and every week brings another opponent poised and ready to dethrone us if we slip. Due to length of this week’s “Game View” article, next week’s issue will contain the “Players’ Nickname” editorial, more player’s game views, and an article on “What Goes Through Defenders’ Minds When They Are Making A Hit!” INSPIRATIONS According to Robyn Sanchez and many other Sirens’ defenders, rookie linebacker Tamara Bells’s all out effort with two interceptions was more than inspirational. In addition, teammates saw rookie defender Tameka Hutcherson’s dual position effort and positive attitude as well above the norm for a new player. TEAMMATE THANKS TO D-Line veteran Kim Bradshaw was quoted as saying, in reference to Nicole Kopacz, “Nikki deserves a big ‘thank you’ for stopping so many receptions by the Oakland receivers.” We would like to extend a special thanks to Michelle Kahler for the time she devotes to the team’s website, SacramentoSirens.com. Likewise, the Defense would like to extend a special thanks to offensive players Carol Thomas #53 and Trish Heffner, #78 for their help on the D-Line during Saturday’s game. BIG HITS According to “Sack Pack” veteran Joyce Brown, in reference to a tackle by Pam Heemstra, #77, “I didn’t see the hit, but it sounded like a hit that could have been heard around the world.” Lorraine “Lo-Lo” Grandison noted that rookie Christy Medinger’s sack of Oakland’s starting QB was extremely impressive as well. BIG PLAYS This game produced many big plays, and these are just a few of them: Tamara Bells’s two interceptions, Kellie Kirkpatrick’s Interception, Jeny Gardner’s fumble recovery, Gina McCann’s sack, Joyce Brown’s two sacks and Tina Rogers’ two fumble recoveries. MDP (Most Defensive Player) With a total team effort such as this one, almost all of the defensive players acknowledged that not one player was significantly more “Defensive” than everyone else. So, congratulations to the entire Defense, “You are all MDP’s. Inside Future Issues: SPECIAL EVENTS COACHES' COMMENTS THE SACRAMENTO SIRENS DEFENSE - Terminology The D Line - "The Hit Squad" The Linebackers - "The Sack Pack" The D Backs - "Deep Cover" The "D" View Archives